With anxiety, it’s the not knowing what’s going to happen that triggers the emotional response, she says.
"Fear signals that there is danger and is a universal emotion experienced all over the world,” says Robin Stern, PhD, the associate director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence in New Haven, Connecticut, and a codeveloper of an approach to emotional learning program called RULER (recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, regulating).įear is related but not synonymous with phobia or anxiety, Dr. Physiological changes triggered by fear include rapid heartbeat, redirection of blood flow away from the periphery toward the gut, and tensing of the muscles, according to the definition of fear from the American Psychological Association (APA).
But you don’t always have to overcome your fears - we obviously wouldn’t want to lose our fear of a speeding car or other real dangers.įear is a basic human emotion designed to motivate us to avoid danger, explains Seth Gillihan, PhD, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and the author of The CBT Deck for Anxiety, Rumination, and Worry.Ī physiological arousal happens - what’s called the fight-or-flight response - that energizes you to move away from the threat. We learned there were not monsters under the bed or danger in the basement.Īs we get older, facing our fears can become more complicated. As kids, facing our fears is often a rite of passage.
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